20-06-011
So we finally got around to playing a new adventure for my wife's character/s. It is a setup adventure, involving how her two PCs meet and how they become entwined in a story of danger and adventure. So we cranked the Oblivion soundtrack, poured some Stoneleigh Pinot Gris, gathered some new dice (which proved unlucky for Beck that evening) and got started.
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The young elf shepherd Gauren, or 'Lightfoot' as most in Graustadt called her, awoke to a frosty and still morning. She had been tracking her wayward sheep for a day or so into the chill forest, and managed to find a rocky outcropping in which to sleep overnight, protected from some fo the wind and snow. Really she was looking for a new life, and knew she would never return to Graustadt to that penniless existence at the drunken, heavy hand of the angry landowners.
She felt hunger in her gut, but decided to press on and find those damned sheep. She picked up a trail in the snow and mud beneath that drew her further into the forest. She crouched, feeling some tufts of wool on a spikey bush, and looked ahead, noticing the trees part a little revealing a misty clearing
She drew her bow and notched an arrow, approaching carefully. The mist rolled away to reveal a bloody red find on the snow - obviously at least one of her sheep had met its fate here. Searching about, she found a broken arrow, and plenty of footprints - human. Feeling a growing anger, she took to the human trail, which lead her further up into the rocky snowy foothills of the Grey Mountains.
A sudden and cruel storm suddenly rose up and engulfed the hillside. Gauren wrapped herself tighter in her woollen cloak, but had soon lost the trail. She had tog et out of the storm, and looking up the mountains side ahead, she thought she saw what could be a cave - maybe some respite from this awful weather? She clambered skilfully over the tricky rocks and found a small dark cave, warm and out of the wind. Her keen eyes saw no danger lurking in the shadows, and as she investigated the back of the cave, she heard the whistling of wind through a couple of natural tunnels that lead back into the darkness.
Intrigued, she decided to carefully make her way into the small tunnels. Surprisingly enough, she also found some Hallorns Rest mushrooms in the dark of the tunnel, knowing how to put that to good use at some point. It wasn't long before she saw the glaring light of day at the end of the tunnel - it was clear that the honeycomb of tunnels joined the two sides of the rocky hill. She stopped as she caught the whiff of wood smoke in the air. She carefully emerged from the tunnels, keeping to the shadows and found herself at the back of another cave, behind a stack of old crates and an ageing barrel and piles of lanterns and other stores. At the mouth of the cave, she could see the silhouette of two figures, hunched in the cold near a fire, noisily slurping on freshly roasted lamb.
Angered, Gauren prepared to attack these brigands, but something in the dark to her right caught her eyes. She raised her bow, aiming into the dark, but as her eyes adjusted, she found the form of human, bound and gagged in her sights, eyes wide open. She approached, keeping to the edges of this cave in the shadows, and took the rags from the prisoner's mouth, cutting through her bonds with a well used knife. "I thank you Elf, just call me Blackhart" whispered the young woman, "We can get acquainted later, Elf, but I think for now we have other pressing matters..." and she gestured to the brigands nearby - still completely unaware, devouring the best meat they'd had in weeks.
Gauren drew her bow, covering Blackhart as she carefully and quietly dug into a crate at the back fo the cave, retrieving her sturdy hand axe. Making her way to the other side of the cave, she nodded grimly at Gauren, and the elf let fly with her attack!
The brigand was bowled over in surprise, the leg of lamb flying into the air as the first arrow struck home, deep into an arm. Amid the panic and screams, the other bandit stood, dumbfounded as Blackhart came swiftly from the dark, charging into him, striking hard with her axe. Gauren let loose again, missing the wretch as he scrambled to draw his sword with a limp arm. Blackhart didnt stop, pushing forwards into the bandit and striking hard again, the blow smashing through his arm, almost severing it and knocking him to the ground in a bright red splatter on the crisp snow. The bandit scrambled back, yelping in pain and tried to flee. As his back turned, the vengeful Blackhart struck him down, finishing him and turned to see the other bandit hefting an axe and charging her flank, but the misjudged blow swept wide.
A loud yell form the forest rim revealed another bandit, wide eyed and unhooking a bow from his pack. He quickly notches an arrow, preparing to defend his comrades. Gauren loosed another arrow at the newcomer, but the arrow hit the branches and leaves and bounced harmlessly away. Blackhart sidestepped the axeman, returning an attack that connected wit the brigands shoulder with a crunch. The man dropped to the ground dazed, clutching his arm and dropping his axe. He desperately tried to scramble away, yelling for this archer friend to run, when an arrow from Gauren's bow silenced him forever. Blackhart didn't stop moving, gripping her axe, she ran through the powdery snow towards the forest rim, hoping to cut down the last brigand before he could escape.
The lone bandit fired shakily, missing and desperately tried to reload as Blackhart came at him, axe raised ready to cleave. Gauren fired another true arrow that found its mark, and the brigand dropped to the snow in pain as the arrow sunk into his gut. He dropped his weapons and tried to haul himself away into the trees, but he would not escape Blackhart's furious axe.
The two women stood shaking, the adrenaline surging through their veins. They looked at each other, nervously smiling and surprised to be alive. The two unlikely companions had many unanswered questions, but both somehow knew that they were bound for adventure, and most likely - great peril...
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